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¶¶£††==«~¨ THERE WAS THIS PLACE THAT FOR TWO YEARS ¨~«==††£¶¶
¶£††††=«~¨ I COULDN'T GO TO. REGARDLESS HOW MUCH ¨~«=††††£¶
##¶£*†=«~¨ DISCUSSED WITH OTHERS, OR POINTED OUT ¨~«=†*£¶##
###¶£*†«~¨ ON MAPS, I COULD NOT THINK OF IT WHEN ¨~«†*£¶###
££££*†=«~¨ ALONE. I WOULD OFTEN TRAVEL PAST THE ¨~«=†*££££
##¶£*†=«~¨ FORK, WHERE A RIGHT TURN WOULD SURELY ¨~«=†*£¶##
#£££*†=«~¨ TAKE ME THERE, BUT EVEN THEN, SOMETHING ¨~«=†*£££#
¶*=«¨¨¨¨¨¨ KEPT ME AWAY. ¨¨¨¨¨¨«=*¶
##¶£*†=«~¨ ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ WHEN I FINALLY GOT THERE, AFTER SOME ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ HEAVY SUBCONSCIOUS BATTLE I MUST ¨~«=†*£¶##
#¶££*†=«~¨ ASSUME, THE PLACE WAS SURREAL. AN ¨~«=†*££¶#
¶**==~¨¨¨¨ ESKER, LIKE A NEEDLE-THIN RIFT OUT IN ¨¨¨¨~==**¶
£†††==««~¨ THE LAKE, BUT TEN METERS HIGH AND ¨~««==†††£
##¶£*†=«~¨ ADORNED IN BIRCH, WILLOW, BRACKEN, AND ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ BLUEBERRIES. ¨~«=†*£¶##
¶¶¶£*†=«~¨ ¨~«=†*£¶¶¶
££**=«~~¨¨ WALKING ATOP THAT SPINE, I CAME TO ¨¨~~«=**££
£*==~~¨¨¨¨ NOTICE THE VIEW TO EITHER SIDE. THERE ¨¨¨¨~~==*£
#¶*=«¨¨¨¨¨ SHOULD BE SHORES, OF COURSE, BUT I ¨¨¨¨¨«=*¶#
¶£*===~~¨¨ DIDN'T RECOGNIZE THEM. FIRST OFF, THEY ¨¨~~===*£¶
¶*=««¨¨¨¨¨ WERE MUCH TOO CLOSE, AS THE LAKE SHOULD ¨¨¨¨¨««=*¶
##¶£*†=«~¨ STRETCH FOR A HUNDRED METERS MORE ON ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ BOTH SIDES. BUT NOW I FELT I COULD ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ ALMOST REACH OUT AND TOUCH THEM. AND ¨~«=†*£¶##
¶£††=«««~¨ THEN, WHEN I REALIZED WHICH SHORES THEY ¨~«««=††£¶
#¶***†=«~¨ WERE, I HAD TO STOP. ¨~«=†***¶#
###£*†=«~¨ ¨~«=†*£###
##¶£*†=«~¨ THEY WERE OF THE RIGHT LAKE. BUT THIS ¨~«=†*£¶##
¶£††=~¨¨¨¨ LAKE IS LARGE, FRACTURED, AND ¨¨¨¨~=††£¶
£*†=«««~¨¨ BIPARTITE. LIKE A PAIR OF LUNGS CARVED ¨¨~«««=†*£
##¶£*†=«~¨ INTO THE GRANITE, AND WITH NO LESS THAN ¨~«=†*£¶##
£†=««~¨¨¨¨ FIVE COMMUNITIES ANCHORED AT VARIOUS ¨¨¨¨~««=†£
##¶£*†=«~¨ POINTS. AND SO, STUDYING THESE ¨~«=†*£¶##
¶££*†«¨¨¨¨ IMPOSSIBLY CLOSE SHORES, I SLOWLY ¨¨¨¨«†*££¶
¶££**†=«~¨ UNDERSTOOD THEM AS BELONGING MANY MILES ¨~«=†**££¶
¶*=~¨¨¨¨¨¨ AWAY. ¨¨¨¨¨¨~=*¶
#£*†«~~~¨¨ ¨¨~~~«†*£#
##¶£*†=«~¨ I EXAMINED THE RIDGE, THE TREELINE ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ ABOVE. WAS THIS WHAT YOU SAW OPPOSITE, ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ FROM THOSE OTHER SHORES? I COULDN'T ¨~«=†*£¶##
£†«~¨¨¨¨¨¨ REMEMBER. ¨¨¨¨¨¨~«†£
##¶£*†=«~¨ ¨~«=†*£¶##
£*†«««~¨¨¨ CARRYING FORWARD, ON THE VERY TIP OF ¨¨¨~«««†*£
##¶£*†=«~¨ THE ESKER, I FOUND THE RUINS OF SOME ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ OLD BUILDING. THERE WERE OVERGROWN ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ MARBLE STAIRCASES, STONE FLOORS BENEATH ¨~«=†*£¶##
£***=«~~~¨ THE MOSS, AND STRANGE SLABS INSERTED ¨~~~«=***£
###£*†=«~¨ INTO THE SLOPE LIKE DAMS AGAINST THE ¨~«=†*£###
£†==~¨¨¨¨¨ GROUND ITSELF. ¨¨¨¨¨~==†£
¶¶£†«~~¨¨¨ ¨¨¨~~«†£¶¶
£††=«¨¨¨¨¨ SITTING THERE, I COULD SEE ACROSS THE ¨¨¨¨¨«=††£
¶**†««~¨¨¨ NARROWED LAKE MY ENTIRE PATH TO WHERE I ¨¨¨~««†**¶
##¶£*†=«~¨ SAT: FROM THE STAIRWELL OF MY HOUSE, ¨~«=†*£¶##
£*††††=«~¨ THROUGH THE OLD WOODS BEHIND THE TILE ¨~«=††††*£
##¶£*†=«~¨ FACTORY, THE BRIDGE OVER ROUTE ¨~«=†*£¶##
£*=~¨¨¨¨¨¨ TWENTY THREE AND THEN BACK UNDER IT, ¨¨¨¨¨¨~=*£
##¶£*†=«~¨ THROUGH THE FANCY VILLAS, OVER THE ¨~«=†*£¶##
#¶*†=~¨¨¨¨ FIELDS, AND THEN THAT RIGHT TURN AT THE ¨¨¨¨~=†*¶#
##¶£*†=«~¨ FORK. ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ AND THEN THE STAIRS UP ON THE RIDGE. ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ THINKING BACK, THIS WAS PROBABLY IT. ¨~«=†*£¶##
¶*†«~¨¨¨¨¨ HIDDEN IN A GROVE, THERE WERE STAIRS ¨¨¨¨¨~«†*¶
£*††=«¨¨¨¨ MUCH LIKE THE ONES I CURRENTLY SAT ON, ¨¨¨¨«=††*£
##¶£*†=«~¨ OLD AND WORN DOWN, THAT LEAD YOU UP ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ ONTO THE ESKER. THE POINT OF ENTRY. HAD ¨~«=†*£¶##
¶£**†«¨¨¨¨ I INSTED OPTED TO WALK THE PATH AT ITS ¨¨¨¨«†**£¶
##¶£*†=«~¨ FOOT, I'M SURE MY EXPERIENCE WOULD'VE ¨~«=†*£¶##
£††††==«~¨ BEEN DIFFERENT INDEED. ¨~«==††††£
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##¶£*†=«~¨ ON THE LAKE, THERE WERE PEOPLE IN ¨~«=†*£¶##
##¶£*†=«~¨ BOATS. I WONDERED, COULD THEY EVEN SEE ¨~«=†*£¶##
¶£**=~¨¨¨¨ ME? IF I SHOUTED, WOULD THEY TURN TO ¨¨¨¨~=**£¶
##¶£*†=«~¨ STARE RIGHT THROUGH ME? ¨~«=†*£¶##
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